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Friday, 2 January 2015

WW1, a German View – the Last Years of Cavalry

Austro-Hungarian Cavalry 1914

I’ve always been fascinated by
how much the “feel” of the world of 1914 differed so dramatically from that of 1918.
As one sees newsreels of 1914 – and in particular the computer-colourised
versions one has seen recently, which gives an immediacy that black and white
does not – one is struck by the absurd posturing of often-ludicrous figures in
comic-opera uniforms. It is hard to believe that preposterous individuals such
as Kaiser Wilhelm II, Emperor Franz-Josef or Czar Nicholas II – or indeed the
pompous but short-sighted leaders of France and Great Britain – could ever have
been in positions of power that allowed them to plunge the world into
nightmare. 1918, a mere four years later, seems not only a time of brutal, disillusioned realism which had
swept away the last vestiges of the 19th Century, but also one in
which an explosion of technology had achieved
changes which might otherwise might have taken decades. The World of 1914 “feels”
different to ours of today, while that of 1918 was one which has myriad
familiarities with our own.

I was spurred to these
reflections when I recently came across 1914/15 copies of a German illustrated
magazine, detailing the progress of the war. Published in regular parts by a
Bavarian publisher, Josef Habbel of Regensburg, Bavaria, the magazine was a German
counterpart of several similar British month-by-month histories of the war, bound
copies of which can sometimes be found in British second-hand bookshops. This “Illustrated History of the European War
1914/15” wasedited by one Karl Aspern, about whom I
have been unable so far to find out more than that he appears to have written
histories of Turkey and Bulgaria in the same period. This magazine is
particularly interesting in that it shows a German view of the early stages of the
war when stalemate may have been developing on the Western Front, but when
largely mobile warfare was the norm on the Eastern Front. The overall tone of the publication is crudely
propagandist, and one suspects that the artists who provided the illustrations
(there are fewer photographs than one would have expected) had never actually
visited the front and were providing a idealised rather than realistic pictures.
This said, it nevertheless offers interesting insights as to how Germans on the
Home Front viewed – or were allowed to view – the war.

1914 - not 1814 - artist's impression of German attack on Russian troops

A notable aspect is the
prominence given to cavalry operations. On the Western Front these were limited
to the first weeks of the war, and were largely restricted to a reconnaissance
role, but cavalry was to remain
significant factor throughout on the Eastern Front – and on into the Russian
Civil War and the Soviet-Polish War of 1920. Here they played a more
traditional cavalry role, taking advantage of their superior mobility to exploit
breakthroughs, acting as mounted infantry (as was the original role of Dragoons)
and on some occasions acting in a shock role, such as harrying retreating troops.

Austro-Hungarian cavalry driving off Cossacks in the CarpathiansIt could be a scene from "War and Peace" but Blitzkrieg is only a quarter-century away

It is striking that in the illustrations shown
below the focus is on offensive roles, and given the antiquated uniforms still
in use many could easily be taken as referring to the Napoleonic or 1870 period.
There is no hint of recognition here of the potential of mechanisation, yet by the
end of the war – four years later – massed attacks by tanks, a new weapon, would
be crucial in breaking the German lines on the Western Front. It’s hard to believe that only a quarter-century
separated this last gasp of gorgeously uniformed horse cavalry from the Blitkrieg
era. Even more remarkable is the thought
that many young men who served in the units depicted in the illustrations below
were themselves to lead German and Russian tank forces in Spain, in Mongolia and
on the Eastern Front.

Looking at the illustrations
below – all from late 1914 and early 1915 – one gets the impression of looking at
the death of “The Long 19th Century”. I hope you’ll find them of
interest

Russian field-artillery in flight towards the fortress of Przemnsl

Turkish troops facing Russian Cossacks in the Caucuses

Serbian prisoners of the Austro-Hungarians - their dress is almost medieval

4 comments:

Ironic then that Field Marshall Douglas Haig, ever the cavalry man, was always looking for the big flanking manoeuvre on the Western Front. I don't think he deserved the defaming he later received though, he was a product of his time and the best there was, trying to struggle through the revolution in military affairs that faced him and his peers.

I must confess being an admirer of Haig. He had the vision to make use of aircraft and tanks on a large scale, and to back more imaginative and effective use of artillery. In the process he secured the greatest victory of British Military History, the defeat of the German Army in "the last 100 days". His postwar career in developing the Royal British Legion testifies to the sort of man he was. He is very unfairly treated in media and shallow show-biz types etc but I suspect that his reaction would have been "Publish and be damned"

Many thanks for the book recommendations Paul - now on my reading list. Incidentally in the small Sandhurst museum I saw some beautiful field sketch-maps drawn by Haig as a cadet. I doubt if this level of skill was unusual then but seeing them gives one a feeling of contact with a young man who was to become great.

About Me

My "Dawlish Chronicles" are set in the late 19th Century and reflect my deep interest in the politics, attitudes and technology of the period. The fifth novel in the series, “Britannia’s Amazon” is now available in both paperback and Kindle formats. It follows the four earlier Dawlish Chronicles, "Britannia's Wolf", "Britannia's Reach”, "Britannia's Shark" and "Britannia's Spartan". Click on the book covers below to learn more or to purchase.
I’ve had an adventurous career in the international energy industry and am proud of having worked in every continent except Antarctica. History is a driving passion in my life and I have travelled widely to visit sites of historical significance, many insights gained in this way being reflected in my writing. I welcome contact on Facebook and via this Blog. My website is www.dawlishchronicles.com and its “Conflict” section has a large number of articles on topics from the mid-18th Century to the early 20th Century.